Skip to main content

5 Sci Fi & Fantasy Movie Adaptations of Books in 2020 Look Awesome

A string of lights on a mound of snow spell out "2020" and a cabin stands in the background.
Credit: Pixabay.com


I hope everybody had a great holiday season and is getting a good start to this new year of 2020! While the 21st century has shown a rise in the acceptance of fantasy and science fiction into mainstream culture, the past decade has particularly shown a rise in TV and movie adaptations of books in these genres. Iā€™m not really big on TV adaptations of books and so canā€™t say a lot at this time about any that may be coming during this year of 2020. However, since Iā€™m much more into watching big screen movies and reading, I can say that the new year has lined up five sci fi and fantasy book-to-film adaptations which all look really awesome! Okay, Iā€™m speaking a bit hypocritically. I havenā€™t actually read any of the books these five films are based on. Still, the plots look super and worthy of the big screen. So, that gives me at least three new yearā€™s resolutions to put on my list: 1) read the book to each of these movies; 2) see the movies; 3) do a Book-To-Movie review for each.

The 5 Book-To-Film Adaptations

ā€œThe Color Out of Spaceā€: Directed by Richard Stanley; releases 24 January. This movie is adapted from H.P. Lovecraftā€™s horror sci fi story of the same name and stars Nicolas Cage (ā€œGhost Riderā€). The story concerns a meteor that lands in a rural region of Massachusetts causing strange and terrifying occurrences.

ā€œThe Turningā€: Directed by Floria Sigismodi; releases 24 January. This is adapted from Henry Jamesā€™s novella, ā€œThe Turn of the Screwā€, about a governess who takes a job at an estate that turns out to be haunted.

An invisible man wearing a suit and derby.
Credit: Pixabay.com


ā€œThe Invisible Manā€: Directed by Leigh Whannell; releases 28 February. Itā€™s high time that they make a remake of the original 1933 classic book-to-film adaptation. Itā€™s supposed to be part of a project to remake several Universal monster films. The movie is based on H.G. Wellsā€™ sci fi horror novel of the same name. The story is that a scientist discovers a way to make himself invisible but then goes mad and on a killing spree while experimenting for a serum that will bring back his visibility.

ā€œDuneā€: Directed by Denis Villeneuve; expected to release 18 December. This is also a remake, the original being from 1984 that co-starred rock star Sting. Based on Frank Herbertā€™s novel, the story is set on a planet where a war is being fought for a spice that expands consciousness and lengthens life.

ā€œChaos Walkingā€: Directed by Doug Liman; no confirmed release date. Based on Patrick Nessā€™s trilogy of novels of the same name, the story is set on a far-off dystopian planet called New World. There are apparently no women on this planet and a virus is infecting male population driving them mad with realistic visions of their thoughts. The two main characters try to escape the insanity.

Are you planning to see any of these sci fi and fantasy book-to-film adaptations, read the books or both during this year of 2020?

A vintage party streamer rolled up.
Credit: Pixabay.com


Have a Happy New Fear!

Until next time . . .

Comments

  1. I'm interested in the Lovecraft adaptation. The movie The Curse was loosely based on it but I'd like to see a truer adaptation.
    Everyone keeps trying to do Dune. We'll see if someone does it really well.
    I've really been enjoying The Witcher series. I think it's actually better than the books.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It seems like the few Lovecraft adaptations they've had have all been loosely based on the stories, even though some of the movies may be good in their own right. I've heard of The Curse but have never seen it. I'll have to check that one out. I actually didn't mind the original Dune movie, even though it wasn't my favourite of space opera films. But because it was such a long movie (which is expected, since the book I believe is over 500 pages) I've only seen it once. I'd like to try to watch it again one more time before the remake comes out.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book-To-Movie: Stephen Kingā€™s 'The Raft'

Credit: Pixabay.com It's the third Saturday of the month and so that means it's time for another Book-To-Movie ! In a Book-To-Movie we review a book and its movie adaptation. One of the reasons I as a horror fan donā€™t read a lot of Stephen Kingā€™s work is because most of it consists of novels that go more than 400 pages. I have a short attention span when it comes to reading, ironically since I consider myself an avid reader, and so I normally wonā€™t read a work that is much more than the equivalent to a 350-page mass market paperback. The other reason why I donā€™t read a lot of Kingā€™s work is that, as literary scholars will tell you, a lot of his writing is poor. However, he does have some good writing in his works, especially his earlier stuff, including his short horror tales. So if I read anything by Stephen King itā€™s usually his short stories or novellas. One of his collections Iā€™ve read is Skeleton Crew which includes some of his good, or at least...

Book-To-Movie: ā€˜The Hound of the Baskervillesā€™

Credit: Wikimedia Commons I apologise for posting outside our regular post-day which is late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. However, I got behind on several things last week and so had to postpone the post to today.  Iā€™ve been a reader of Sir Arthur Conan Doyleā€™s Sherlock Holmes books ever since I was 11. What Iā€™ve always liked so much about the series is that, like a good horror story, the stories often take place in dark settings and involve bizarre cases. Conan Doyleā€™s novel, ā€œThe Hound of the Baskervillesā€, definitely contains these elements. Itā€™s a detective story that crosses over into the gothic horror genre. Several movie adaptations of the novel have been made that go as far back as a 1915 German silent film. In 1959 Hammer Studios released a version starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. As much as Iā€™m a fan of the Hammer horror films, I have not seen that one yet. The only one that Iā€™ve seen so far is the 1939 adaptation starring that other big name in classic...

Return to Fiction Writing; Graphic Novel Based on Lost Horror Film

Credit: Wikimedia Commons Some of you may had noticed that I skipped posting back on the 4th of the month, as far as Monday posting goes. I posted for the IWSG blog hop that Wednesday and it didn't make up for that Monday's missed post since I said I had to keep it short. I had to reduce the writing during that week because, as I also said in that IWSG post, my mom passed away back in October and so that was the week of her funeral. I just got back on track earlier last week (Wednesday I think it was) and so that included returning to working on my fiction projects, namely my upcoming short story collection, "Bad Apps". Needless to say, I'm back on track with my weekly blog posts. So, I have some about my latest progress on "Bad Apps" and, in sci fi/fantasy news, about an upcoming graphic novel adaptation of a lost silent horror film that starred Lon Chaney Sr. Back On Track with ā€˜Bad Appsā€™ My short hiatus from my fiction writing wasn't really a ful...